Soldier-Talk
| Soldier-Talk | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by The Red Crayola | ||||
| Released | 1979 | |||
| Genre | Post-punk, experimental rock | |||
| Length | 35:45 | |||
| Label | Radar | |||
| Producer | Mayo Thompson, Geoff Travis | |||
| The Red Crayola chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Pitchfork | 5.3/10 |
Soldier-Talk is the third studio album by American experimental rock band The Red Crayola. It was released in 1979 by record label Radar. By this time, Thompson had moved the project to London and expanded the band for this album to include Lora Logic of X-Ray Spex and Essential Logic and all the members of Pere Ubu.
Since the release of God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It, Steve Cunningham had left the project to pursue his own musical ambitions and had been replaced by Jesse Chamberlain. In 1978, this incarnation of the band was touring regularly and had been signed to Radar Records. While in Europe Thompson met Pere Ubu, who were touring in support of The Modern Dance, and struck up a friendship.
Despite the presence of Pere Ubu, the music is a close continuation of the sound previously established by The Red Crayola. Soldier-Talk was conceived as a concept album dealing with the issues of militarism and Soviet communism.
Chamberlain wanted to veer the music towards a more pop-oriented direction while Thompson opted to keep the sound experimental. As Thompson explained, "there wasn't much for him to do, in a way, I think he wanted to say what he felt about the record, and he wanted it closer in the direction of pop, because Jesse, that's always been one of his gifts, and I was determined to make the record work, and thought that it could, and should, and working with Geoff Travis, using his insights into the way music works, there was no other way it could be..." The conflict of interest caused a strain on their musical partnership, although they later worked again on another record in a similar vein, Three Songs on a Trip to America, the cover of which referenced Soldier-Talk.
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